Reilly: We served with integrity

I wrote this weekend about two of the Capital Region’s three retiring assemblymen — Jack McEneny and Ron Canestrari —who have known each other since they sat at the same high school lunch table.

I didn’t get a chance to weave in much about Assemblyman Bob Reilly, a Democrat from Colonie who is also moving on after eight years in the Assembly. He, too, grew up around the same time as Jack and Ron, but is four years older and attended Vincentian Institute, the now-defunct rival Catholic school to Christian Brothers Academy, where McEneny and Canestrari were members of the class of 1961.

Reilly was pensive upon his retirement, and hoped that people would see the merit in quiet, solemn representation.

“A friend of mine said to me the other night that no Capital District legislator has done anything remarkable with statewide implications,” Reilly said. “I have to say, and I don’t want to sound negative, that the two local politicians who did the most have both been indicted.”

“I think the legacy of Jack, Ron, myself and Paul Tonko is that we all served with integrity,” he continued. “The world, and the government process, is a circle. It’s not linear. All of the issues I still have a great interest in — farming, workers rights, the economy, small business, gun violence — are with us today and are going to be with us tomorrow. They’ll be around in some time in 30 years. If you have a core of people who hold together and serve with integrity, it’s a much greater thing than someone who breezes through.”

“It’s easy to reflect on the crooks that have been around the legislature, and unfortunately they receive more visibility than those who just work their butts off every day,” he said.